Bill Creswell is the man again. I asked him if he could caption this commerical video by New Balance that’s been showing during NCAA basketball games.

Cool commercials by Nike in Korea.

Oh yeah, does anyone know what is the model shoes the guy wore in the commercial?

Nike Plus (Korean Commercial 1)

Nike Plus (Korean Commercial 2)

Nike Plus (Korean Commercial 3)

Heh, cute. The actress is Song Hye-kyo

He’s the greatest biker ever. I remember reading his interview and one thing that stood out. He biked 360 out of 365 days and rode one of the best scooters for three year olds there ever was. Enuff said.

I was wondering what makes running attractive and it’s true that I like to run but not too insane. I like to run 3 or 4 miles a day. So I was browsing around the forum and saw this post. Thought I’d share.

Why I run by Ulla.

I love to run.

I don´t know if I can call myself a “runner”. I have never competed in a race and I don´t think I would be amongst the fastest ones if I did.

But fact is: I love to run.
People ask me: “why? why do you get so uneasy if a couple of days pass by and you did not have the chance to run?”

Running is my balance, my “my time”, the hour I have during the day when I am alone with my body and my thoughts.

I spend a lot of hours every day working. In front of a PC, in meetings, at airports, in planes and cars that take me back and forth to more airports and planes and meetings… At the end of the day, running gives me the chance to feel that I am more than “just a brain”. That I have legs and lungs and a heart that beats and pumps blood through my veins and makes me breath and sweat. That I can get physically tired, not only mentally. That I am healthy and alive!!!

Steve Tjiang, a Googler who has a deaf daughter that goes to Fremont School for the Deaf, got me signed up for this 199-mile relay run. While browsing their site, I found some interesting facts.

“California’s Longest Party!”

From Calistoga to Napa to Sonoma to Marin, through Sausalito, across the Golden Gate Bridge under a full moon, through San Francisco to Palo Alto and through Silicon Valley to Santa Cruz, the 199-mile course boasts the largest number of tourist destinations of any run. After racing for 24 hours through 36 cities, 12-member teams run to victory on the beach while furthering The Relay mission to increase awareness of 98,000 Americans waiting for organ transplants.

The Relay is the Largest Event in the World Promoting Organ Donation.

Through Organs ‘R’ Us, the transfer of the baton from runner to runner symbolizes the transfer of an organ from donor to recipient. The 1997 and 1998 Relays were dedicated to three-year-old Delaney Corbitt who waited since birth for a kidney transplant. While runners crossed the finish, President Clinton signed a Relay shirt for Delaney at Stanford Hospital. Of those waiting, 18 Americans die each day waiting for an organ donor.

91% of runners are college educated with 87% employed at a professional or managerial level. 82% are between the ages of 25 and 49 with 60% male and 40% female participation. Median family income is $72,000.

20K Pirate Cove trail race results

So, race results are in. I placed 137th out of 157, with the time of 2 hours and 50 mins, not exactly very good. I got leg cramps at the 9th mile, so I pretty much walked for the last 3 miles till a few hundred yards away, I ran to the finish line. I tried to run again but cramps would come up and I didn’t want to get stuck and yell for help. It was a reality hit…that I didn’t train well enough and didn’t drink enough water. Well, I got some bad stomach ache a few days before so I didn’t really eat well nor drink enough. Big mistake. Since I’m signed up to run in the 200 miles relay run that’s on April 19/20th. I gotta be committed and train properly. I’ll try to find another 20k race before that, to ensure I’m in shape and without any cramps.

Big props to my Google friend, Steven Tjiang, who told me about this race event. He ran 50k and like me, fought cramps to cross the finish line at the time of 8 hours and 11 mins. He’s 48 years old. We pretty much went through the same thing, ha.

Heh, I told my friends that I only have one goal. That’s to show up in the race and cross the finish line. I won’t be the first or the last (although very close to that). I drove my Element close to the site and camped out the night before so I can get ready ’cause I’m really bad at getting out of bed early. All in all, it was all good times, cramps or not. :-)

He’s finally found his problem. It’ll take him a while to solve it but he will get there. But the most important part is he’s found the problem.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco’s SmugCloud – by Kertong.

Having been to San Francisco a few times, wow, anyone would love to live there but one thing about the city. They have people that are known as ‘SF snobs’ who possess this air of superiority and think that their shit doesn’t smell as bad as yours. And that’s very true. I’ll admit—I did think about how great would it be to live in SF but like Kertong said, you’d pay more rent for a smallish space, crowded parking space and deal with city traffic the minute you insert the key in. Reading his post made me realize how fortunate I am now. I live in a nice apartment that’s not too high in rent, get to work under a half hour and ofc, Fry’s store is only a few miles from here. I’d much rather to invest the extra $$$ into traveling and getting out on adventures. :-)

To control the posts, use query_posts() function like query_posts(‘page_id=7’) before the loop code.

Me and Mayuma.

My fave president received a facelift.

New Five Dollar Bill

More U.S. currency circulates in the world than any other currency. About $770 billion circulates worldwide. With this large volume of U.S. currency in circulation, the public education and awareness program has proven vital when introducing past newly designed currency. Similar efforts are being conducted for the new $5 bill to inform stakeholders and the general public about the new changes and how to utilize the security features to authenticate paper money.

Continue using the old $5 design: You won’t have to exchange your old $5 bills for the new ones. Your old money will always be good. In fact, every U.S. banknote issued since 1861 is still redeemable today at full face value and will continue to be legal currency. In addition, there will be no recall or devaluation of any U.S. bills as the United States has never devalued its currency and will not do so now.

by Nathan W. Kester and Joseph M. Davis

I don’t know what it is but I feel like something is happening to me. It’s hard to explain but I think I feel like the guy, Charly, from the book, Flowers for Algernon. It’s strange how I can remember things. And another thing is I’m starting to use my left hand more, like it actually feels more comfortable to me. Well, I’ve been left-handed, I shoot basketball left-handed and throw a baseball with my left hand but always write with my right hand. I can flip a pen with my left hand, not my right hand and I’m starting to learn how to write with my left hand now. I’m also using a mouse left-handed. I guess I am slowly becoming into a completely left-handed person now. Weird.

from SFGate

In a dramatic about-face, Ask.com is abandoning its effort to outshine Internet search leader Google Inc. and will instead focus on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives.

As part of the new direction outlined Tuesday, Ask will lay off about 40 employees, or 8 percent of its work force.

Sorry to hear…